


Serendipitous?

by Awakening5



Series: In a Galaxy Not So Far Away [3]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chance Meetings, Coffee Shops, F/M, Fate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 04:39:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11028804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awakening5/pseuds/Awakening5
Summary: People spill lattes. It's something that happens. Sometimes they even spill lattes on beautiful people.But they don't bump into those beautiful people again and again, right? That's something else entirely. And Finn intends to find out what.





	Serendipitous?

**Author's Note:**

> I needed some FinnRey, and I wasn't in the mood to write in-universe for possibly-obvious reasons. So I'll just replace the Force with fate in a modern AU. And you bet Finn's got that, too!

i. Chance 

It's cliché and embarrassing, and Finn's not entirely sure he's at fault here. There should be room to turn around without running into someone, right? But that doesn't change the fact that he spilled his drink on her. 

"I'm so sorry," he gushes, grateful he went with a frozen latte this morning so he didn't burn this beautiful girl in front of him. 

She looks peeved glancing at the mess on her shirt, but is quick to reassure him as he shifts his (now half-empty) cup into his left hand to get a better hold on his napkin. "It's fine, I shouldn't have been standing so close behind you." 

He reaches out to dab at the brown blotch on her grey tank top before thinking better of it. It's on her side above the hip, but she's a stranger. She might think he was trying to cop a feel or something. He's not—he just feels bad. "Here," he says with a half-grin, and hands her the napkin. "I can go wet one if that would—" 

"No," she says, returning his half smile. "I was going to go home and put this in the wash anyway." 

Finn figured as much. She's clearly coming from the gym, or at least a morning run. He can tell she takes care of herself. Her workout clothes reveal a very fit woman, and Finn has to force himself not to look her up and down a few times. She's naturally beautiful, Finn decides. She looks extremely comfortable in her skin, with her brown hair tied up and minimal make-up. It's very attractive. 

He realizes now that he's staring at her face and shakes his head. "Well, I'm glad no serious damage was done," he says a little awkwardly. 

She nods. "Yeah. Sorry about your drink." 

He waves her off with a smile. "Probably shouldn't have gotten this much anyway." And they're grinning at each other for a little longer than necessary as the coffee shop bustles around them. Finn comes to himself and nods. "Right. Good luck with the shirt." 

She quirks an eyebrow and smirks at him. "Thanks. I'm sure I'll need the luck." 

Finn laughs through his embarrassment. So he said something stupid. That's fine. It gave him a few more seconds to look at her. "Yeah." And he knows he's being weird, so he just nods at her again. "Take care." 

"You too," she says. 

ii. Coincidence 

Finn would be lying if he said he hadn't thought of that girl in the coffee shop once in the past three weeks. He also hadn't been daydreaming about her or anything. She had made an impression—but it's not like Finn was obsessed. 

He might just be now, though. He's on a first date with a perfectly nice girl at a show. He's not entirely sure what the show is about, of course, because three rows in front of him and about 30 seats over, _she's_ sitting there. 

He saw her come in across the theater hall with a guy that Finn doesn't like. He just looks stupid for some reason, like he doesn't deserve this girl who Finn knows _nothing_ about. Finn's crazy, and he knows he's being crazy. But she caught his eye on the way in, and now she's looking back at him every once and a while. He knows she remembers him—and he _certainly_ remembers her, though her hair is down, now, and she's in a beautiful green dress. 

At intermission, Finn offers to grab some refreshments with the hope of bumping into her in the lobby. Instead, he sees the guy she was with, who looks bored and a little bit angry. _She deserves better_ , Finn thinks unreasonably. He doesn't know what this girl deserves. He just knows she doesn't like getting spilled on, but isn't a bitch about it when that happens. 

That is _literally_ he only thing he knows! But when he walks back into the hall, his eyes search her out, and he finds her. She's looking for someone, and when her eyes fall on him, Finn realizes he was her target. She flashes him a brilliant smile and nods at him. 

He never gets closer than that, and it _hurts_ him. 

iii. Serendipity 

Two months go by, and Finn tries to convince himself that the girl means nothing to him. But he hasn't had a relationship—or a desire for one—during that time. Poe tells him he's distracted by the thought of her. And the number of times Poe's jokingly had to snap his fingers in front of Finn's face to recapture his attention is proof. Plus, Finn is far more observant than he's ever been when he walks down the street, glancing this way and that for any hint of her. He returns to that coffee shop whenever he can justify it, though it's out of the way. He's even considered going back to the theater, even though that's dumb. He doubts she's, like, a regular there or something. 

Besides, this girl means nothing to him, right? 

But the extra attention he's been giving to the people around him pays off on the train. 

Takodana is not, say, like the city of Curoscant. So, bumping into someone three times is not...impossible. 

But Takodana is not Jakku, either, where its occupants know everyone's name, and seeing a neighbor three times would happen even when you were trying to avoid them. 

No, Takodana is the size of city where you could find whatever you wanted, just not necessarily after midnight. Takodana was the size of city that seeing a stranger three times could be argued as coincidence _or_ fate. 

Finn knows in his heart it's fate, so he pushes through the other occupants of the train separating him from this _girl_ with no thought for what he's going to do or say. He just needs to go do or say _something_. 

She notices him as he squeezes between two overweight men more focused on their phones than their surroundings. Finn might have been one of those people a couple months ago. Now, the world seemed to be offering him something, so he's been looking. 

"Should I be worried I've got a stalker?" the girl says, the corners of her lips betraying her true feelings at seeing him again. 

He smiles back. "I wouldn't say worried," Finn replies. "Maybe flattered?" 

She hums and glances out the window to hide her smile. "How'd you like the show?" she asks, like they had just walked out of the theater two months ago. 

"Had trouble concentrating on it," Finn answered honestly, only realizing after he'd said it that the implication was he was thinking about her the whole time. Her head jerked back to him, obviously inferring the same thing. 

Even though it was true, that's not exactly something Finn wants to admit to a stranger. So he presses on quickly. "And your shirt?" 

"Thanks to your good luck," Rey says, moving on easily from his admission, "it is clean of any stain." 

Finn grins. She remembered his silly words from almost three months ago. Finn has an inside joke with a stranger! "Glad I haven't done any permanent damage," he says. 

"That," she replies pointedly, "has yet to be seen." 

And then the train is slowing down for the next stop in the Kanata District, and people are shuffling around them, putting a stop to their conversation and Finn can't quite process what she's just said. 

"This is me," Rey says over the people moving by. She sounds a little distressed. Her next word is hopeful. "You?" 

Finn shakes his head, and his heart is beating fast. Because the universe can't just throw them together to pull them apart so quickly. "One more stop," he answers because he can't think about what else to do than answer her question and keep the conversation going. "Veteran Support Group." 

She's nodding as the train comes to a stop. "Oh," is all she says before pointing at the door behind her with her thumb. It opens. "Programming class." 

And Finn nods back at her, still unable to process that she's about to leave. They haven't even said anything yet! Fate didn't work like this. "Right," he says, and his voice sounds depressed even to his own ears. "Good luck, then." 

And she's backing towards the open door, looking a little stunned. "Thanks," she replies. "See you." 

And she's gone. The door closes, and Finn realizes he didn't even get her name. 

iv. Irony 

For about two minutes, Finn stands in stunned silence. He's angry at himself for not getting off the train with her. He's frustrated at not having seen her just a few minutes earlier. He's confused that fate would play so cruel a trick on him. He shakes his head and thinks, _Fate will bring us back together._

Then he thinks, _Fuck that! I will bring us back together!_

At the next stop, he jogs to the parallel platform and waits for the return train. He pulls out his phone and Googles 'programming classes kanata district.' There are a few pins that appear on his map, and the Solo Instruction and Training pin is the only one that offers night classes. 

"Gotcha," Finn says with a grin, and within twenty minutes, he is standing in the foyer of a small instruction center. He pokes his head into the first classroom he sees with the lights on. 

An old man is grumpily instructing a rather diverse group of twenty people of all ages. Finn scans the group for the girl. 

"Can I help you?" the man asks, clearly annoyed that his class (which seemed to be annoying him already) is being interrupted. 

"What?" Finn startles. "Oh, no, sorry. Just looking for someone. But I don't see her." 

The man narrows his eyes at Finn, but he backs out of the classroom before anything more is said. He wanders down the hall, looking for any more ongoing classes, but comes up empty. He pulls his phone back out to see if he missed another class. Then he wracks his brain in case he misheard her. What else sounds like programming? 

For the second time, Finn startles at the old instructor's voice. "Who are you looking for?" 

Finn's head shoots up to see the man looking at him cautiously. He's not sure how to explain the situation. "Oh. Well, she's about this tall," he motions with his hand. "Brown hair, intense hazel eyes, cute freckles." 

"Her name?" the man presses. 

Finn sighs. He might just be escorted out of here by cops if he doesn't explain this right. "We haven't _officially_ met yet," Finn says hesitantly. "But she mentioned she'd be coming here, so I thought..." 

"That you'd follow her?" the man replies. "Listen kid—" 

"No!" Finn interrupts quickly. "Look, I know this sounds weird. But I've bumped into her _three different times_. I mean, come on! And this time, I was going to get her name, and then the train--" 

"Yeah, Rey's not here," he answers. 

_Rey_ . 

"Rey? Where is she?" 

The man pulls out his phone. "Sent me a text that something came up. A big deal. And that she couldn't make it. She never misses class. I assume you're the big deal?" 

Finn sure hopes he's the big deal, and he can't help the smile that comes to his face. "Can you give her my number?" 

"I'll do you one better." And he's rattling off a phone number before Finn's trembling fingers can punch them in. 

"Thank you so much, Mr..." 

"Solo," the man says, the hint of a smile in his eyes. "Han Solo." 

He thanks him again, and practically skips back to the train. Sure, he didn't see her again like he'd planned. But he was a big deal. So... 

He's back on the train when his phone rings. 

"Hey, Poe," Finn picks up. "Sorry I'm so late. You won't belie—" 

"So her name is Rey, huh?" Poe replies, and Finn can _hear_ him grinning through the phone. 

"You met her?" Finn practically shouts, shocking the guy next to him on the train. 

Poe laughs heartily. "She comes into the meeting—it was funny, I instantly thought of your mystery woman the second I saw her—and asks about a cute guy, about yea-high. So of _course_ I knew she was talking about you." 

"Is she still there?" Finn asks, unable to keep the smile from his face that he was the cute guy. 

"Nah," Poe says regrettably. "Gave her your phone number and name, though. She seems pretty great." 

"Yeah," Finn says quietly, even thought he still knows _almost_ nothing about her. But her name is Rey, and at least he knows that now. 

He hangs up with Poe after getting made fun of for a minute longer and stares at his phone, his messaging app open, and phone occasionally going dim from a lack of activity. 

He tries to be clever. He tries to incorporate their brief history, writing something about actually going to a coffee shop or back to the theater, but on purpose this time. But asking her on a date seems a bit aggressive—she had been with a guy (the undeserving tool) at the theater after all. So he deletes the message and writes something about bewaring of the stalker, because he got her number from Solo. 

But playing into being the stalker kind of makes him seem like a stalker, so he erases that, too. 

But then his phone buzzes and a text comes in. 

_Rey: Look who the stalker is now. But don't worry. You should be flattered. [7:43PM]  
Rey: Poe gave me your number btw so its not creepy. Right?! [7:43PM] _

Finn stares, a little disbelieving, at the messages and reads them over about 17 times. She can definitely pull off the stalker joke better than him. His reply is much easier than his attempts at starting the conversation. 

_Definitely not creepy. And I AM flattered. Solo tells me you never miss class [7:45PM]_

_Rey: You went to my class?! [7:45PM]_

_I figured I shouldn't leave running into you up to chance again [7:46PM]_

_Rey: So let's not chance it. You still in Kanata? [7:47PM]_

_Nah, I'm about to get off at center. [7:48PM]_

_Rey: Of course you are. I just got back to Kanata. [7:50PM]_

Finn laughs at their bad luck. He supposes the universe had to balance itself back out after letting them see each other three times incidentally. 

_Stay right there. I'm on my way back [7:53PM]_

_Rey: You've got to be kidding me!! I JUST got back on! [7:54PM]_

v. Destiny 

When he arrives at a coffee shop on Center Street at 8:37, Finn is more than a little nervous. She's waiting for him in a booth, already with a frozen latte on the table across from her. Seeing that she _somehow_ remembered what his order had been three months ago put his mind at ease a small amount, but even so... 

"Hey," he says with a smile as he slides across from her. 

"Hey," she smiles back. 

"So, you're Rey," he says more than asks. 

"And you're Finn." 

"It's nice to meet you, Rey," Finn chuckles. 

She's grinning and shaking her head. "This is crazy, right?" 

"I feel like I can't ask you about yourself because I should know you, or something." Finn can't describe the feeling. He doesn't know _what_ the feeling is in the first place! 

"I know what you mean. Plus I'm scared I'm going to learn you're totally wrong for me, like, a law student who loves soccer and movies and TV—and that all of these insane meetings were just coincidence." 

Finn feels his heart drop into his stomach, because that's _exactly_ who he is. He doesn't think he can move, from shock or disappointment, he's not sure. But then she's smirking at him (and his surely comical reaction to her). "Poe told you a little about me, didn't he?" 

She scrunches up her face, adorably and apologetically, and nods. "I'm sorry. I couldn't resist causing you a little panic. And even though I don't even _know_ you, I feel like I can tease you." And then her own face looks panicked. "Oh no. I _can_ tease you, right?" 

Finn grins back, causing her own tension to ease. Because this is so weird, and of _course_ she can tease him. "This is so weird. Of course you can tease me. But I'm at a disadvantage. All I know is that Rey is learning programming and went to a play with a guy a couple months back?" 

"Subtle," Rey said with lifted eyebrows and a smile. "And nothing came of it." 

"Good," Finn nods. 

"And the girl you were with?" Rey asks, a touch of nervousness in her voice. 

Finn laughs. "I think I spent more time looking at the back of your head than her that night." 

Rey smiles radiantly back . "Good." 

And then they grin at each other in silence and it should be awkward. But it's not. It feels like the most natural thing in the world. And Finn can't help but think that it will always be this way. Easy. Comfortable. Meant to be. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! This was a fun one for me to write. I'm on a bit of a modern AU kick and wouldn't mind writing some more. Let me know if you've got anything you want to read.


End file.
